Borussia Dortmund scouting report: Arsenal must be wary of counter-press as German stars come to town

The Yellow Army invades London tonight for a Champions League thriller (Image: Lars Baron)

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One half of last season’s first-ever All-German Champions League final, Borussia Dortmund return to London to revive their dreams of lifting the trophy.

A defeat in Napoli has added some pressure ahead of the back-to-back matches with Arsenal and many are tipping BVB to be strong contenders to reach the latter stages for a consecutive season.

The memories of 1997’s triumph under Ottmar Hitzfeld are fresh in the mind of Dortmund’s massive fan-base in the Ruhrgebiet – the industrial heartland of Germany – where they’ve become the dominant club of recent years, overtaking rivals Schalke.

Arsenal may be top of the league and in wonderful form, but the loss of Mathieu Flamini is a big blow for them - as shown by Norwich's impressive showing after the Frenchman's withdrawal on Saturday.

With Dortmund also missing a key cog in their midfield though, this one promises to be an intriguing battle.

Strengths

The buzz-term ‘counter-pressing’ has become an ordinary term if you’ve followed German football over the last 18 months. Not simply ‘pressing’ – or ‘chasing’ in British terms – it’s a concerted strategy to press as high as possible and recover possession as close to the opponent’s goal, therefore, leaving excellent opportunity to exert acceleration and pace to take advantage.

While many clubs do it, Borussia Dortmund could arguably be the strongest of the elite sides. Their 4-2 Super Cup triumph over Pep Guardiola’s FC Bayern side was an exhibition in ‘counter-pressing’ and one of the most impressive counter-attacking displays you’ll see for some time.

Pressing matter: Dortmund defend from the front (Image: Lars Baron)

Weaknesses

Perhaps this season’s clear problem is the lack of conviction in attack. That seems a bizarre area to point the finger at, but Dortmund have struggled against compact defences when they’re expected to weave through with short, intricate passing.

On Saturday, a “hard-fought” victory over Hannover – as local newspaper Ruhr Nachricten described – continued their excellent start to the season, overall. But just a single goal from the penalty spot, combined with their blank at Borussia Monchengladbach a fortnight ago has raised concerns over the sloppy finishing of the likes of Lewandowski, Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan.

According to stat gurus WhoScored, Dortmund, on average, have 23 shots per game (from over 200 in total) with an average accuracy of 53% (via Squawka). Against Gladbach, they fired 27 efforts at goal and had little joy as they lost by two goals.

Although missing Lukasz Piszczek and Marcel Schmelzer, the deputies in Erik Durm - a young 20-year-old left-back, promoted from the Dortmund II side - and the man of many positions, Kevin Grosskreutz have done reasonably well with the latter certainly softening the blow of losing Piszczek until Autumn.

Only Durm possesses the attacking prowess to contribute in the final-third and Klopp has been afforded the opportunity of starting the more out-and-out forward Aubameyang ahead of Grosskreutz who rarely overlaps in two-v-one situations.

Coach

Jurgen Klopp, Borussia Dortmund’s head coach, confirmed this week that he rejected several offers to move to England, mainly Chelsea, to continue the project of moving the Ruhrpott giants the top-dog in German football.

Since arriving from FSV Mainz 05 in 2008, ‘Kloppo’ has revolutionised Borussia Dortmund with two championships, a German Cup and of course, the Champions League final in 2013. A man who can’t contain his passion for the game, he’s a straight-talker in front of the media and takes the role of being a father-figure for the players.

The charismatic entertainer: Jurgen Klopp (Image: Dennis Grombkowski)

Rarely will you see a player substituted without receiving a gigantic hug from ‘Kloppo’ – unless they’re losing, then he might show his cold iron fist, which almost clattered the poor Fourth Official in Napoli.

Star Player

Marco Reus has excelled on the left-flank this season at Signal Iduna Park and looks every penny worth his £15m transfer fee last summer. A fantastic finisher with nerves of steel, he’s one of the most effective and dangerous counter-attacking forwards in Europe.

He’ll pick up deadly areas of space on the outside-or-inside of the full-back, while allowing space for the left-back to hold the flank and provide width in attack. But Reus can roam across the front-line, if necessary, scoring a whole variety of goals from free-kicks, to penalties, to one-on-one finishes. He’s netted five already this campaign with three assists in only nine league games.

The German international was reported as a transfer target – as well as Schalke’s Julian Draxler – for Arsene Wenger in the next window of opportunity. However, a value of over £30m and a contract until June 2017 means he’s unlikely set to leave his boyhood heroes.

Familiar Faces

Taxi to Stamford Bridge! Could Robert Lewandowski be Chelsea-bound? (Image: AFP)

Scouts of Manchester United and Chelsea won’t need to travel far to see Dortmund’s want-away Polish frontman Robert Lewandowski. Despite the player refusing to confirm a move to rivals FC Bayern, a move there is almost inevitable.

Nonetheless, expect the striker to be a continued focus of attention, having agreed a pretty significant wage-rise in the summer, only to throw back his commitment into the face of Dortmund when his agent confirmed he’d join the Bavarians on January 2, 2014.

Liverpool fans can catch a glimpse of Nuri Sahin who has recently been an outstanding performer in the first-team, showing signs of the player that the Kop didn’t quite get to see in his stint on Merseyside.

Form

W-D-W-W-W (11 goals scored; two conceded)

Predicted Line-Up

Score Prediction

Arsenal 3-2 – the Gunners are in red-hot form and will be Dortmund’s biggest test of the season, by far. The absence of any notable full-backs might be an issue against the Gunners’ dynamic, versatile play.